Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

Hearing about a beast, Shirong suspected that this rumor might be the one closest to the truth. While he could not confirm the words of any commoner, since he had been there himself, he could understand the similarities between beasts.

'But even those strange skull faced beasts that were the servants of that skull god didn't use fire. Was it truly even caused by fire or was it some other spirit tool?' Shirong wondered.

Shirong even wondered if it was none other than the Immortal Crystal Armament that did it but then realized that it was not possible. While the spear could definitely produce heat enough to burn things, it wasn't something that would linger on and continue to burn an area.

"Hah! A beast? Do they think beasts that are this strong can just be found anywhere? It's probably just some random explosion that caused the fires. Didn't you know something similar happened back in the Ling Kingdom?

A meteor fell near it in the Millennium forest and destroyed the entire area while even creating pits of lava. Back then, people didn't dare get close and waited some time. Perhaps the situation with the Dread Coil Marsh is the same." A map said after downing a cup of wine..

Hearing this, Shirong raised his brows as it was a matter closely related to him. But this also reminded him of the devastating potential of the Immortal Crystal Armament.

'No, wait… I haven't explored all of the powers of the Immortal Crystal Armament yet. Perhaps those flames were one of those abilities that I had been unable to unlock.' Shirong wondered to himself.

"Hang on, that does seem rather similar!" A younger woman who had been silent all this time exclaimed.

"I've heard that the area where the meteorite crashed also became a forbidden zone. In the case of the Dread Coil Marsh, it was already a forbidden area and now there is just no chance or survival there.

Plus the Dread Coil Marsh is very vast, spanning across three kingdoms. Who knows if it truly was a meteorite that fell and changed the area like this. A meteorite like that would be easily hidden from out eyes." The young woman continued.

Somehow Shirong realized that all the conversations were somehow either linking back to him or the Immortal Crystal Armament. These were not terms that he was comfortable with and didn't like others takings about him either, even if they didn't know his true identity.

And thus, Shirong decided to take his leaven thinking that he had had enough for the day.

~cling~

He placed a few coins on the table before leaving the establishment. 

'This won't be enough, I need to see what the others think of…' Shirong thought to himself.

He thus wandered among the commoners for a few more hours, listening to their conversations, their thoughts, and their goals. It was somewhat of a learning experience for Shirong and he bided his time.

Shirong did this for about six hours, after which a bell was rung in the royal palace. The few commoners that were around to observe the signs were shocked by hearing the strange sound.

"It's the King! He has an official decree!" One of the younger cultivators spoke. 

To them their king was massively strong and there was no chance that he would face any deathtraps. And this their coincidence was rather elated. Unfortunately for them, the reality couldn't be farther than the truth.

Shirong also moved to the site of the announcement, along with the other commoners. He could see that several advisers were standing there, and the King stood high up in the palace gallery that the man used to entertain his delivers. 

~chatter~

The sounds of people talking and chattering spread throughout the area as they waited for this king to speak.

"Silence!" One of the ministers said out loud while suppressing the people around him. 

~gulp~

Sensing the aura and pressure from the man, Shirong truly was shocked.

"My people! Today… I bring you some grave news," the king spoke.

He waited for a bit and finally spoke.

"And in this, there is a chance we might be in great danger. But I have no option other than waiting for the follow up. Unless we figure out the beast that caused this fire, little would come out of this." The king of the Ivory Heron dynasty spoke.

~gasp~

Many shocked gasps came out of this as the people were appalled. To them, the kingdom was the umbrella that would hold up the rain, but now it was telling them no and that it could not help them.

Of course, along with the commoners, there were also some nobles and aristocrats around the area. Even if the commoners had questions, they might not be ableable to ask the king directly, but to the aristocrats, it was not that big of a deal.

"My king… what of the other two nations, the Burrow Light Kingdom and the Bing Kingdom?" one of the aristocrats asked.

"They are in an even greater dilemma than us. At least for us, we didn't face any direct loss of life. But in the case of the Bing Kingdom, an entire major city of theirs was destroyed.

There were traces of similar flames being used and even one's blood, which confirmed that it was surely a beast. So we can assume that these two incidents are linked and are perhaps from the same beast as well.

As for the Burrow Light kingdom, they are on tenterhooks since they don't just have to deal with one Strong beast, but two. There was an expanse of hills near the border of the Bing Kingdom and the Burrow light kingdom and it now is filled with water.

  The mountain peaks have become islands and the ground there was fully hidden beneath tens of meters of water." The king of the Ivory Heron Dynasty explained.

"My king… do we have an idea about what kind of a beast they might be if they can cause something like this?" someone among the audience asked.